Irradiation Dose Minimization by Optimizing the Arrangement of Radiation Sources of Different Intensity

A method of decreasing the irradiation dose rate from spent nuclear fuel or radwaste containers arranged on open storage sites or in hangar-type repositories has been developed. The dose rate is minimized by optimizing the arrangement of radiation sources of different intensities. It is shown that for a fixed number of sources the minimum dose rate at a given distance from a row of containers is reached for a definite arrangement in terms of intensity. The arrangement of the containers on the storage site and in a light hangar-type repository is determined using the particularities of the radiation emanating from the containers for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel and containers for conditioned radioactive wastes.